Changes
by ah-dorably key-ute
Summary: Lauren Buchanan has had a hard life. Now she's coming to Hogwarts and meeting the Next Generation. JSP/OC, Rose/Scorpius, a bit of Albus/OC and Teddy/Victoire
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

**A/N:** Hey everyone! This is my first Harry Potter story, so I'd love to know what everyone thinks about it. A couple notes about it: 1) I have changed some ages of the characters in the story. It's a Next Generation fic and I just thought about it like this, so I changed some ages. Name's are going to stay the same, with a bunch of OC's. But just know that some ages are changed. So, just let me know what you guys all think about this story.

**Disclaimer:** I own all my OC's. JK Rowling owns everything else.

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Chapter 1  
Nobody ever said life was easy. Lauren Buchanan was living proof of that. She grew up in foster home after foster home, never really staying long. Some of them were all right, with kids her age and nice foster parents. Others…were not, with obnoxious kids and mean, sometimes downright abusive, foster parents.

But she bounced the system because she had nothing else in her life. Her dad had died before she was born in a car accident and her mom had just run off, not ready to raise a kid by herself. Lauren hadn't seen her since.

A small wavy blonde haired girl with the bright blue eyes, Lauren never had much at all.

But when she turned eleven, things started looking up. She had been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. So she bought her stuff using money she had earned through chores that she had been saving her entire life (she had quite a bit earned for an eleven year old) and left her latest foster home(which wasn't very upsetting considering the parents were abusive alcoholics) to go away for an entire year.

Her foster father George pushed her out of the car, along with her trunk, and roughly said goodbye before getting back in the car and driving away. She took a deep breath, to steady her nerves and walked into Kings Cross Station, searching everywhere for Platform 9 ¾.

"Are you all right, dear?" A brunette woman asked her. She was accompanied by two children, an auburn haired girl that looked around her age, and a red haired younger boy.

"I'm looking for Platform 9 ¾." Lauren frowned, realizing how stupid that sounded and waited for the woman to laugh at her. However, there was no sound of laughter from anywhere near her and the woman opened her mouth to speak.

"First year at Hogwarts?" She asked. Lauren nodded. "So is my daughter Rose." She gestured to the girl. "And this is my son Hugo." Her son waved. "And I'm Hermione Weasley."

"Lauren Buchanan." Lauren said. She tucked a piece of her golden blonde hair behind her ear.

Mrs. Weasley smiled. "Why don't you and Rose go on through the platform? You just walk between Platforms 9 and 10. Hugo and I will follow."

Rose smiled. "Hi Lauren."

"Hi Rose." Lauren greeted her. She could tell that she and Rose would become good friends.

And they did. The two girls entered the platform and Lauren went on the train to get a compartment while Rose said goodbye to her family (apparently she had a rather large one).

They spent the entire ride talking. Rose talked about her crazy family and Lauren told her about her lack of one. They discussed how Lauren had no idea whether her parents were muggles (a new word for her) and Rose ranted for a bit about having famous parents and relatives because they saved the Wizarding World.

Soon they reached Hogwarts and were getting into the boats. Rose had made sure that they got in a boat that had two people already in it (Lauren wasn't sure why) but they ended up sitting with a moody blond boy who said nothing the entire way and an overly chatty brunette girl named Melanie Morris.

They were put in a room and before anyone knew it, they were being herded into the Great Hall.

Professor Longbottom was calling names loudly and soon he called. "Buchanan, Lauren." She walked up and sat down on the stool. The Hat was placed on her head and she heard. "Mhm, mhmm, hmmm, mhmm. Yep." Then it shouted. "GRYFFINDOR!"

As she was the first sorted into Gryffindor this year, the applause was loud and cheerful as she made her way and sat down at the table.

The next Gryffindor to be added went by the name of Thomas Corner, a brunette boy with navy blue eyes. Added soon after than was Danny Finnegan, a darker haired boy with hazel eyes. The two boys joined Lauren at the table.

Gryffindors had to wait a while after than to get another Gryffindor and the next one was no surprise. Professor Longbottom's (Head of Gryffindor House) daughter Alicia Longbottom was next sorted into Gryffindor. She was an average sized brunette with hazel colored eyes. Two people later, Professor Longbottom called out, "Malfoy, Scorpius".

The moody blond boy that had been in Lauren's boat walked up to the stool. He sat down and the hat was placed on his head. After about 30 long seconds, the hat shouted "GRYFFINDOR!" to the surprise of many. Even Scorpius looked surprised. The Gryffindors clapped for him, as they clapped for everyone, but many of them looked surprised.

Lauren looked over at her new friend Rose to find a messy, black haired boy whispering something in her ear. Rose nodded and smiled.

More names were called and then finally, "Potter, James". People began pointing and whispering as the messy black haired kid that had been talking to Rose walked up to the stool. The hat had barely touched his head before it shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

And that's when it began. People were shouting and hollering. Some kids were chanting, "We got Potter" over and over again. The applause for James was much bigger than anyone else put together, but Lauren didn't know why.

The next Gryffindor sorted was "Thomas, Natasha", who was a pretty dark skinned girl with dark brown eyes and curly brown hair. Soon the sorting was over and "Velardi, Andrea", a pretty chestnut blonde girl with green eyes, and Rose were the last of the Gryffindors sorted. Rose got a large amount of applause herself, though not quite as loud as James'.

The four first year Gryffindor boys were loud throughout the feast, talking amongst themselves freely, even Scorpius, who had looked even moodier than in the boat when he first sat down at the Gryffindor table, but was now lightening up a little.

The girls chatted lightly, all of them together. Occasionally, Rose and James would toss comments back and forth to each other, causing Lauren to wonder how they knew each other. Rose must have seen what she was thinking because she told Lauren the story of James.

"James is my cousin. His mum is my dad's sister and his dad is best friends with my parents. His dad is the one who really is credited with saving the entire Wizarding World and his family always gets a lot of attention because of their last name." Rose explained.

Lauren nodded. She didn't really know James that well but she had a feeling about him that she couldn't quite place.

The feast was absolutely delicious and Lauren was positive that she had never seen so much food in her life. After a few parting words from the Headmistress, Professor McGonagall, Lauren and the other first years followed two Prefects up to Gryffindor Tower, where all of the girls climbed into their room and quickly fell asleep.

The last thing Lauren thought of before she fell completely asleep was just how different Hogwarts was from her foster homes…and she absolutely loved it.

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A/N: So, what do we think?


	2. Chapter 2: Years 1 through 5

**A/N:** Thanks for reading and reviews. They're really what gets me writing. This chapter is just a summary of Years 1-5. 6th Year starts next chapter and that's when the story really gets going. Also, on my profile, there is a link to my photobucket which has pictures for the main characters of the story. So, if you want to check that out, then feel free.

**Disclaimer: **I own the OCs. I don't own Harry Potter

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**Chapter 2**  
The year went on and Lauren quickly caught on to what they were learning. Rose was, by far the cleverest, of the first year Gryffindors, but being her best friend also made Lauren quick to catch on, with Rose's help of course.

The Gryffindor girls, while all friendly with each other, generally split into two groups. Rose and Lauren would sit together in classes, as would Alicia and Andrea. Natasha's best friend from growing up, Kristen Davies, was sorted into Ravenclaw, and for this reason, Natasha would often find her friend during breaks and would always sit with her in classes they shared.

The Gryffindor boys, however, were a different story. All four of them had quickly formed a tight friendship, despite rumors flying around about how James and Scorpius' fathers hated each other in school. In fact, to Lauren, it seemed that James and Scorpius were closer to each other than they were to Danny and Tom (though to be fair, Tom and Danny were closer to each other than the others too). However they all four quickly developed a close friendship and were soon identified throughout the school as big pranksters.

Rose insisted that her cousin was a nice person, but Lauren didn't see it. She had developed a fairly strong dislike for James Potter (and Scorpius Malfoy for you never saw one without the other) and she didn't see that changing, ever…little did she know.

James and Scorpius also became known as two of the brightest students in the year. The picked up what was being taught in lessons by, at most, their fifth try (despite getting in trouble for talking almost every lesson), and always received full or almost full marks, yet Lauren had never seen them open a book once.

First year came and went, with Lauren spending Christmas break at Hogwarts, along with Andrea. Andrea, she had discovered, was also muggle-born, and her parents were often away on business. It was a pleasant enough break and Andrea had now become one of Lauren's best friends.

Once break was over, work became harder, and teachers began warning about exams ("Already?" Andrea had exclaimed one lesson, where they had been given a lecture about the importance of sleep and study schedules).

Soon Easter break had come around and the castle was much louder, because everyone stayed.

Exams finally came and went. Lauren felt sure that she did well on all of them. Certainly better than Alicia, who had set the feather they were supposed to be levitating on fire.

Summer was what Lauren was dreading. She was not looking forward to going back to the abusive foster parents. But she went anyway, her friends too excited about their upcoming vacation.

Her summer was long and hard. It seemed to her that her foster father George was making up for not being able to do anything to her for the entire year and her beatings felt more and more painful each day (or maybe it was just that she had forgotten just how bad they were).

Relief came in the form of Rose at the end of July, when a letter came asking her if she wanted to stay with her for the last two weeks of summer. Her friends all knew that her birth parents were dead and that she lived with a foster family with many other kids but they didn't know how her foster parents were.

With the letter came an offer to pick her up from her house and an offer to drop her off at Kings Cross, to catch the train to Hogwarts. And it was only for that reason did George and Carla allow her to go.

The rest of her summer was extremely pleasant. She passed off any bruises she had left as her being clumsy (a lie that was easily believed because she really was a huge klutz) and the Weasley's and the Potter's were extremely nice to her. Even James was nicer than usual, though Lauren suspected that his parents being there was a major factor in that.

Second year came and went with James and friends playing more pranks. Nothing interesting really happened save for Andrea making Reserve Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team (James was given the actual spot…and Scorpius had made Beater, making them even more popular than before). James' brother Albus and his cousins Fred and Dominique had both been sorted into Gryffindor that year, as well, and chances were that if you were a first or second year in Hogwarts that year, you were friends with at least one (if not more) of the Weasley's.

Third year had been fun. Andrea was given an actual chasing spot from the Captain, Mitchell Wood. Mitch was a sixth year Keeper (as good as his father, many said) and a find of Teddy Lupin when he had been Quidditch captain. (Teddy Lupin who married Victoire Weasley- Rose and James had both been absent from school for a week in October for this). And as far as the Gryffindor Chasers went, they were unstoppable (they first won the cup that year). Andrea, James, and the last Chaser, Kelly Wood (Mitch's twin) all were fantastic, making close to 100% of the shots they took and between Andrea's ability to fly in small gaps, Kelly's knack for collisions that only hurt one way (not toward her), and James' talent for fouling without being noticed, the three teammates worked in such harmony that everyone in Gryffindor was dreading Kelly's leave and all other houses were cheering for it. More Weasley's were also brought into school, including Roxanne and Molly.

Fourth Year became a bit more interesting. James and Scorpius became, yet again, more popular, as girls had all started noticing that they were 'gorgeous'. Every girl fifth year and below thought the two boys were hot. Every girl, that is, except for five Gryffindor fourth years.

Rose screwed her face up in disgust whenever someone mentioned either one of them being cute. James was her cousin and Scorpius was over his house so much that she didn't see him as anything cute.

Alicia also wrinkled her nose in disgust. James and she had been close as children, given that their parents were pretty close and she claimed that blonds were not her type.

Natasha had also known James, not as well as Alicia or Rose, but they still saw each other enough for her to say that it would have been weird to date him. She also had a steady boyfriend, Dylan Daniels, and claimed she was perfectly happy with him. Though she did admit (in private, and just to the girls of course) that Scorpius was pretty cute.

Aside from Lauren, who couldn't stand either of them and would never date either of them, the only other one of the girls who didn't know James growing up was Andrea, and she was too busy crushing on Tom Corner to be interested in either one of them (though she also admitted that both of them were pretty hot).

Also in their fourth year, James' sister, Lily, and Rose's brother, Hugo, were both sorted in Gryffindor. Lily and Hugo were just as close as James and Rose (possibly even closer) and both quickly found friends, making their own little group.

Andrea and Lauren, as always, had Christmas at Hogwarts, this time with Tom Corner and Danny Finnegan. Andrea had been super excited to spend Christmas with Tom, and by the end of break Lauren considered both Tom and Danny close friends.

At the end of the first day of Christmas break, Rose, Andrea, and Lauren were sitting with Tom, Danny, James, and Scorpius, working on homework. Lauren and Rose were sharing a small sofa, working together on Transfiguration (their worst subject). James, Scorpius, and Danny were sharing a larger sofa working on their Potions essays (they were bouncing ideas off of each other and switching words and sentences around so it didn't seem like they were copying). Tom was sitting in a comfy arm chair, reading a chapter in the Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook (already having finished his Potions essay), and occasionally correcting Andrea's (who was leaning against Tom's legs, working) Charms essay. It was a quiet night in the Gryffindor Common Room.

Or at least it was, until the strawberry blonde head of Dominique Weasley came storming into the Common Room. Her voice could be heard shouting the Password to the Fat Lady and Rose and James had exchanged a look of worry.

Dominique stomped past a couple of scared looking children, muttering under her breath.

"Tu vas bien?" James asked hesitantly.

Tom, Andrea, Danny, and Lauren all looked over at him confused. Rose and Scorpius didn't acknowledge the fact that he was speaking French.

"Stupide Victoire et son stupide gosse. C'est tout ce que j'ai entendu parler. Tout au long de la journée. Il est tout simplement Victoire." Dominique ranted.

James stood up and went over to calm his cousin down. The two were rapidly conversing in French when Tom asked the question everyone was thinking.

"Where did James learn French?"

"Victoire, Louis, and Dominique's mom is from France." Rose said. She was referring to Teddy's wife, the fifth year Gryffindor and the third year Gryffindor. "And all of our parents thought it would be a good idea to learn another language. So Aunt Fleur taught everyone. We all know some basic French, but really, beside Victoire, Dom, and Louis because they're her children, James is the only one who really picked it up, fluently." Rose said.

James journeyed back over and sat down. "All the teachers have been asking her about Vic and the baby and she's annoyed." He explained, mostly for Rose's benefit because, while everyone cared for Dom, Rose was really the only one who was really concerned.

"Poor Dom." Rose said. "It must be hard."

"She'll be fine." James said. "She just needs some time to come to terms. Good call of Vic's though, making her Godmother."

"Godmother of who?" Danny asked.

"Oh, right." James said. "Teddy and Vic had their first kid over Christmas. On Christmas, actually." He added after a moment's pause. "Anyway, they named her Noelle Andromeda. Dom's godmother and I'm godfather."

"She's adorable." Rose added. "She's already got Teddy wrapped around her finger. She looks exactly like Vic, with her little blue eyes and this tiny little tuft of blonde hair on her head."

"Yeah," James said dryly "Looks _just _like Victoire. Fan-freakin'-tastic."

Scorpius laughed. "Got your work cut out for you, don't ya JP?" He teased.

Rose rolled her eyes. "Like you're not going to help him murder every guy who even _thinks_ about looking at her."

Scorpius shrugged. "So what if I am going to. Noelle's even half as gorgeous as Vic is and we'll fighting guys off of her."

James nodded in agreement. "We can lock her in her room. Teddy will back us up."

"Victoire won't." Rose said.

The argument ended with both sides agreeing to disagree. The end of fourth year flew by, all of the Gryffindors passing their exams.

Lauren spent all of her August before fifth year with Rose, and the last two weeks of it in France on the beach with Rose's family, James and his family, and Scorpius (who had spent his entire summer at the Potter's). One day had been devoted to shopping for school supplies in Diagon Alley (Rose had been made Prefect and James was the new Gryffindor Quidditch Captain) and then they came back to France for a couple of days.

Throughout the summer, Ginny had taken a new fascination in photography, and there were thousands of pictures from this trip. Pictures she promised to pass on at some point this school year.

By now, everyone at Hogwarts knew about the dynamics of the five Gryffindor girls.

Rose was the smart, studious one; the one who never broke a rule. That was further backed up when she was made Prefect. She didn't care much for dating and guys- boys were into her, but she wasn't much into them (Most of the guys that actually liked her for her were kind of nerdy and she couldn't stand any of them really).

Alicia was crazy one. She was always energetic and, like her best friend Andrea, was always up for a good time. She liked to be comfortable and was always ok with who she was. She'd had a couple of boyfriends, super serious with each one of them, and always being crushed by them (but she had her girls to help her recover and she always would have them).

Andrea was the party girl. She wasn't hard core or anything, but she was always looking for a good time. She liked dancing around at Post-Quidditch game parties, and birthday parties, and any party that James and his friends found excuses to throw. She'd had her fair share of boyfriends, none of them staying around for long.

Lauren was the friendly one. Everyone knew her and liked her. She loved to laugh and smile. She spoke to everyone. There were very few people she didn't like (James Potter still being one of them. They still fought like crazy…when they weren't trying to avoid each other. She and Scorpius, however, had settled their differences during a Potions semester. She still didn't understand why he was friends with James, but she and Scorpius were now sort of friends). Like Alicia, Lauren had a couple of serious boyfriends, being crushed by two and mutually breaking up with the other two (she was still friends with both of them).

Natasha was the fashion guru. No matter what the occasion was, she would always have something mentally picked out for her girls. Each girl had their own style which really tied in with their personalities. Natasha liked bold prints and crazy styles with big silver jewelry. Rose liked conservative but cute clothes, of many styles with some tasteful gold or silver jewelry. Alicia preferred clothing that was comfortable. Give her some sweats and a t-shirt, and she'd be happy for life. She did like dressing up occasionally…but only if it was comfortable. Andrea liked skirts and party shirts, to go with her partying personality. And Lauren? Lauren liked her fun bright colors with a pair of jeans and some big wooden jewelry.

The five girls were even closer now than they were before. Every Saturday night was considered Girls Night and whether it be painting nails or movie night (Rose's mother had taught her a charm that allowed muggle electronics to work inside Hogwarts. It was the only rule bending thing Rose did), the girls always had a fun time.

Fifth year was OWL year, and the workload was much harder. But everyone was happy when the end came and examinations were over.

As soon as Lauren got off the train with Rose, she was met by James with Scorpius. And quickly after that, she was met by James' mother and Rose's mother.

After smothering all four of them with hugs, Ginny passed an envelope to Lauren. After peeking inside, Lauren realized that these were the pictures Ginny had from last summer. Deciding to look at them late, she joined the conversation.

"How were your OWLs?" Ginny asked, generally to everyone but looking at her son with a worried expression.

James waved his hand through the air, indicating that he thought they were easy. "Piece of cake, Mom"

"And History of Magic?" Ginny asked. Though James wouldn't need the subject for what he wanted to be, she thought it was important to pass it still.

James rolled his eyes. "Ridiculous. Ready, listen to one of the questions." He didn't wait for a pause and blurted out the question. "Please describe, in detail, Harry Potter's quest to find and destroy the Horcruxes of Lord Voldemort." Ginny and Hermione laughed. "I had things in my answer that he didn't even teach in class. It's not going to be my best grade," James continued. "but I definitely passed History of Magic."

Ginny nodded, satisfied. "Good, and how about the rest of you."

"Good." Rose answered. She and her mother shared a look, that basically said they would dissect the exams at home.

"Mine too." Lauren said.

"I did great, Mrs. P" Scorpius said. Ginny's eyebrows rose. "I mean, Ginny." She smiled.

Alicia came over to the group. After greeting everyone, she dragged Lauren and Rose away from them to say good-bye to the girls.

The five girls hugged each other separately, then went for one big group hug.

All five of them were thinking about how great their lives were going right now. Lauren wasn't even worried about going home yet.

But, you know, things can't always stay perfect. And their lives were about to be shaken up.

Which is where our story really begins.

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**A/N**: Thanks for reading! Drop a review if you could, it would be great.


	3. Chapter 3: Tell Me Why

**A/N:** Thanks for reading everyone. Here's the next chapter. It's shorter, but it was too long as one chapter. So this one's shorter and the next one is pretty long.

**Disclaimer: I own only the OCs. JK Rowling owns Harry Potter**

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Chapter 3  
Summer had not been a fun experience for Lauren. She was in the foster home for the entire summer and it had been brutal. She had gone to Kings Cross Station very early so that she could fix herself up magically. Her bruises were not going to go away easily, even with magic. The best she could do was cover them and hope no one would notice.

But, luck was not on her side. She had been sitting in the compartment when James had come to the door, looking for a compartment. She turned when she heard the door open.

He took one look at her. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Nothing." She mumbled. She was concerned. She hadn't even told her friends about the abuse and now James was trying to guess what was wrong.

"Bull shit." He said. "You've got bruises all over. You're trying to cover them, but sweetheart, they're too bad to do anything."

"You know what, Potter?" She said, her voice getting louder. "You don't care about me. I don't care about you. I'm still alive. I'm fine. Let it go and leave me ALONE!"

James glared at her. "I don't know what happened to you, but I'm sorry I asked."

"Then next time, don't." Lauren said coldly. She was not in the mood for James' crap.

"Fine!" James said. "Next time, I WON'T!"

"GOOD!" Lauren shouted.

"GREAT!" James shouted even louder.

They stared at each other, and for a second, Lauren saw a plethora of emotions rushing through his hazel eyes before they were void of all emotion. He turned around and walked out with his trunk.

She sat back against her seat, upset. If James noticed, then surely everyone else would too.

But she was wrong. Or if they did notice, no one said anything about it. Andrea was the first in the compartment. She said nothing about any bruises. Natasha was next, her best friend Ravenclaw Kristen Davies with her. Lauren liked Kristen. She was pretty nice.

Rose was next. She didn't say anything except hello. And finally, Alicia ran in just seconds before the train was due to leave, as per usual. She asked about summers, but nothing about Lauren's bruises.

Which left Lauren to wonder just why James, who she didn't even like or care for, noticed something that the people she was closest to in the world didn't.

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The bruises faded easily over the next two weeks and soon Lauren was back to looking normal. School was much easier this year than last year, although she didn't get to see all of her friends as much (different career paths and everything). But they still hung out whenever they could and always had a good time.

After the incident on the train, Lauren hadn't spoken to James again. Their groups of friends would hang out together, but the two would not speak to each other. No one commented on it.

She had begun to date a seventh year Slytherin the name of Murphy McElroy. He was really sweet and kind, and even if the boys did tease her (except James, who just gave dark looks. He and McElroy had never gotten along), she was happy with her latest relationship.

Or at least she had been happy with her relationship. She realized now that there were some things that she had…er…overlooked.

But you know, looking back, she should have realized something would go wrong. Because her life was never quiet.

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The day had started off bad. She had woken up late. Only Alicia was left in the room by the time she had woken up. And even she was already almost ready to go.

So she had jumped up, pulled her clothes out of her trunk, and threw them on the bed. She had quickly changed her undergarments and then had grabbed her skirt.

But of course, it was laundry day. Natasha, who had a free period first, had taken all the laundry down to be washed (a new thing Hogwarts was trying out, to prepare everyone for later in life), and Lauren had been left with an old skirt from third year, which only hit a little lower than mid-thigh.

And then she had lost her shirt. She wasn't sure how, but she could not find it. So after searching for a little, she just reached in her trunk for a new one. Except it was laundry day. So she had no more shirts left.

Alicia offered her one of hers. Lauren grabbed it and threw it on. Buttoning it as she ran out the door with her books, realizing only too late that, while the two girls were the same height (coming in at a whopping 5'3, shortest of all their friends), Alicia's chest was a bit smaller than hers, and Lauren felt like the shirt was smothering her.

As a result, all throughout Arithmancy (Alicia wanted to go into Curse Breaking and Lauren was going to be a Recovery Healer, which was like a Physical Therapist. She wasn't sure why she needed it but it was required), Lauren was fidgeting in the shirt.

She was groaning all throughout the walk to Advanced Charms, and they met Rose, who was walking toward the classroom.

"Thank God." Lauren muttered as Rose approached. Alicia laughed. Rose looked confused. "I need a shirt of yours."

"Why?"

"Because I lost mine this morning, so I'm wearing Alicia's but she's too flat so I can't breathe in here and I just really need a shirt, so if you can't give me one then just find someone who can." Lauren spoke very quickly.

Ok." Rose said, somehow managing to comprehend her friend's statement. "I'll work on it. Go in the bathroom. I'll come in with a shirt in a minute."

"Thank you thank you thank you." Lauren hugged her friend quickly, gave her bag to Alicia to bring in the classroom, and skipped down the hallway to the bathroom.

Only to find herself drenched before she even made it there from a water balloon dropped by Peeves. She glared, cursed him off verbally, and ran the rest of the way to the bathroom.

Minutes later, Rose came in, a crisp white button-down in hand. Lauren reached for it, but Rose pulled it back. "Now you don't care where I got this from, right?"

Lauren shook her head. "Just give me the damn shirt."

Rose handed it to her. "Ok, good. It's James'." Lauren stopped buttoning for a second, quickly weighing pros and cons of borrowing James' shirts. In the end, she decided she would like to be able to breathe again, so she continued buttoning.

The two walked back into class, just as the bell rang. And as Lauren slid into her seat, ignoring the snicker from James, she thought to herself, 'God, could this day get any worse?'

So, of course, it did.

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Professor Flitwick assigned three essays at the end of class. She got to lunch and ended up spilling her Pumpkin juice all over her shirt (Rose had used a charm to get the stain out). James was being his usual James self and came right up in the beginning of lunch to tell her that she looked good in his shirts and asked if she wanted to see how she looked in his pants next. She had flipped her middle finger off at him, just in time for McGonagall to walk past and assign her detention tonight with Professor Meka. She groaned and hit her head against the table repeatedly as James laughed and sat down next to Scorpius, who was across from Rose.

After lunch was a free period. Lauren, Alicia, and Rose spent it working on homework, and finished one of their three essays. In the process, Lauren had spilled a bottle of ink of her skirt. Rose tried not to laugh as she pointed her wand at the ink to make it disappear.

She arrived at Transfiguration early and felt immensely proud of herself as she sat down in her usual seat.

Except Professor Meka decided that he didn't like the seats they were in and he was going to change them. Now, instead of sitting next to Rose, she was sitting next to James.

James, of course, was absolutely ecstatic (insert eye roll here) about sitting next to her and throughout class was continuously making comments to her. She had finally snapped at him and shouted "shut up Potter" loud enough for her to get more lines in detention tonight and him to join her for 'causing a disturbance'.

So after dinner, at 6:00, Lauren made her way down to Professor Meka's room, just in time. Meka handed her a quill and some paper and she got to work.

James arrived to detention 20 minutes late. Evidently, this was a habit of his because Professor Meka just rolled his eyes and pointed to the paper and quill he left out for James, and then at the board, where the words 'I will not disrupt class' were written.

James sat down, pulled out his own quill and ink, and grinned. "Hey Laur, how're you doing?"

She ignored him. He grinned.

"Mr. Potter, what is wrong with the quill and ink I gave you?" Meka called from across the room.

James grinned. "Sorry. No offense or anything but I only use my own quills and ink when I write lines." He laughed, and Lauren wondered about his strange habit for just a moment before continuing her lines.

James seemed to realize that she wasn't going to talk during this detention and both got to work on their lines.

Lauren finished before him. She handed Professor Meka her parchment, grabbed her things, and left without a word to James.

She walked down the halls, until she bumped into someone. "Sorry." She said. "Oh hey." It was Murphy.

"Hi." He grinned at her and then kissed her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back.

"Come here." He pulled her into an empty classroom and shut the door. He turned around, pulled her bag out of her arms and put it on the ground, and then tried to kiss her. It was then that she realized it.

"Have you been…drinking?" She asked.

He shrugged. "Only a bit." But then he kissed her again. She sighed slightly and kissed him back. It was only a bit and he certainly wasn't drunk. What harm could it do?

Until his hands went to the buttons on James' shirt. She removed them and told him, "no". Seconds later they were there again. "No." she said again, a bit more forcefully.

"Come on, Lauren." He said.

"No!" She cried. He forcefully grabbed her and kissed her again. His hands moved to the buttons and he succeeded in unbuttoning the top few. She wished for her wand, and remembered it was in her bag.

So she did the only thing she could think of. She screamed. Murphy's hand covered her mouth quickly, but it was enough. The door burst open and a tall figure stood there.

The figure shouted out a spell and Murphy flew away from her. Lauren ran over to a desk, sat on top of it, and allowed tears her tears to fall.

* * *

**A/N: **So, what do we think??


	4. Chapter 4: The Aftermath

**A/N: Ok, sorry for the wait. Here's chapter 4. Thank you guys for reading and reviewing!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of it. Only the OCs.

* * *

**Chapter 4  
She didn't notice Murphy try to leave the room. She didn't notice the tall figure throw him back against the wall. She didn't notice any professors come into the room. She didn't notice them pointing at her. She just sat in her corner and cried.

The tall figure came over to her, while Professors Flitwick, McGonagall, and Sprout talked to Murphy.

"Lauren?" She realized now that her savior was none other than James Potter.

She didn't care that it as James. She threw her arms around him, looking for some kind of comfort. Luckily, he seemed to know what she was thinking and wrapped his strong arms around her waist, pulling her close.

She cried into his shoulder, thinking about how it could have ended, had he not shown up. She hated thinking like that and vowed herself to stop.

"Come on." He said. "Hospital wing."

She allowed herself to be led there by him. He was angry, she could tell, but he was doing what was asked of him and being there for her. And she was grateful.

Madame Pomfrey was waiting for them at the door. There wasn't much she could do but let Lauren stay there for the night (which she forced her to do).

She was lying in bed, when James came over.

"Hey." He said.

"Hi." She said.

There was an awkward silence for a bit. Then, "Thanks." She said.

"You're welcome." James said.

"Potter." McGonagall briskly walked into the Hospital Wing. "Come here."

James smiled at her. "I'll be back." Then, he followed McGonagall out of the room.

Lauren sank back against the pillows and waited. She wasn't sure why, but the only thing she wanted right now was to see James.

Her wish was granted. He soon came back into the wing and sat down in the chair next to her bed.

"I've never been in the Hospital Wing before." Lauren said. "Not once."

"Really?" James said. She nodded. "I come here all the time." She laughed, thinking he was sarcastic. "No, I'm serious. I'm here because of Quidditch and pranks and everything. At least once a week, somebody from the Quidditch team is here in the Hospital Wing." She laughed. He smiled.

James was glad she was laughing. He was worried about her when he saw what was going on.

"Potter, out." Madame Pomfrey said.

"You going to be all right?" James asked, ignoring her statement.

"Potter. Out!" Pomfrey tried again.

"I'll be fine." Lauren told him.

James nodded. He took her hand, gave it a quick squeeze, and then shot a small smile at her as he left the room.

And for the first time, she saw exactly what Rose was talking about. James Potter really was a good guy

* * *

James was pissed. He was waiting at the bottom of the Grand Staircase. He had to come through here eventually. Last night, he had been too worried for Lauren to be mad.

He had arrived in his dorm and gotten into bed. The others were all in bed already (it had been pretty late when he got there) and didn't acknowledge his arrival, if they noticed him come in.

James hadn't been able to sleep very well. And the worry for Lauren was still there. But a sleepless night of thinking about her and Murphy McElroy had just made him angry. He had gotten up way early, gotten showered and dressed, and gone down to the Entrance Hall to wait.

"James!" He heard Rose call. She ran over to him.

"Not now, Rose." He growled. He had spotted McElroy, with a couple of his friends, his trunk with him.

"Where were you last night, James?" She asked. "You and Lauren went off to detention and never came back. What happened?"

He ignored her. "McElroy." He called and began walking over there. His fists were balled and he could feel his anger surging.

"Well hello Potter." Murphy had a smug look on his face, just causing James to feel even angrier. He could sense Rose trying to catch up to him, but he was in range now.

McElroy spoke again. "How's La…" He was cut off when James' fist made contact with his face. He stumbled backward.

Rose shrieked. "JAMES!" She tried to grab his arm and stop him but James punched him again. And suddenly McElroy was fighting back. James was much quicker and was able to get more punches in.

McElroy threw a punch.

"Mr. McElroy!" Professor McGonagall stood at the landing. She walked down to the group gathered around the boys. "You are in no position to be throwing punches." She said sternly.

"Potter started it." McElroy spat.

"I didn't see Potter throw a single punch." McGonagall had the quickest, smallest smile James had ever seen on her face for a second before she was back to pursing her lips. "I expect to see you gone in the next five minutes. Miss Weasley, please escort Mr. Potter to the Hospital Wing."

Rose pulled James, despite his protests that he was fine, toward the Hospital Wing.

"Nice punch." Scorpius clapped James on the back as he joined the cousins. Rose glared at the two of them disapprovingly.

"Tha…" James began but was cut off by Rose's shriek. She ran over to her best friend.

"Hi." Lauren said, awkwardly.

"What happened?" Scorpius asked. James hung back a bit.

"Uhh." Lauren said.

"Oh my god." Rose said. "You…but…she…but…you…and…he…"

"Yes?" James said, confused.

"What happened to you?" Lauren asked.

"Punched McElroy." James said.

"You shouldn't have done that." Lauren frowned. "It's not going to do anything."

James nodded. "I know. But it sure made me feel better."

Lauren laughed softly. "Ok." She said. "But have fun in detention."

James smirked. "That's the brilliant thing. McGonagall didn't see me throw a single punch. I'm not getting detention for it.

"What?" Lauren asked incredulously. She opened her mouth to speak again, but she was cut off by Madame Pomfrey coming over to inspect James. She tsk'ed him once but said nothing as she pointed her wand at a small swelling on his forehead.

"Thanks." James said as she walked away. "Are you staying here today?"

Lauren scowled. "I can leave in time for lunch."

James shrugged. "All right. I'm up for ditching morning classes and spending the morning here." He paused. "Or better yet, let's bust her out and hang out outside. It's pretty nice out."

Scorpius grinned. "If it gets me out of class, then I'm game."

Rose bit her bottom lip, clearly debating in her head.

"Come on, Rose." James said, exasperatedly. "There's no need to make a Pro/Con list. Scorp and I are going to bust Lauren out of here and ditch morning classes. You're either in or out."

Rose glared at him. "You do not mock the Pro/Con lists, James." She paused a minute. "But I'll skip with you."

And soon, Lauren found herself with James, Scorpius, and Rose, walking (well, sneaking was more like it) to Gryffindor Tower.

And the four friends (because they could now be called that) spent a nice morning playing Exploding Snap.

* * *

Lunch was slightly…awkward. She had to explain why she hadn't come back to the Common Room last night. And then she had to explain why she and James were getting along now.

But her friends were all happy. Since no one had any problems with any other Gryffindor sixth year now, they were all able to hang out. And lunch was hysterical.

She had always known that James and Scorpius were funny. It was part or their charm. But she realized now, just how funny they were. They were silly and sarcastic and they threw jokes and insults back and forth between each other and Danny and Tom.

In fact, the group of nine was so loud and rowdy that Professor Longbottom had to come over and ask them to quiet down a couple of notches. They laughed, but did as he asked.

Classes that afternoon were fairly calm, in the sense that there were no fights. Professor Slughorn commented that he had never seen the Gryffindors so loud together before. Everyone in the Advanced Potions class had laughed.

Somehow, in the next two weeks of peace and harmony, Lauren had realized that she now considered James not just a friend, but one of her best friends, right up there with Rose.

And now, the first Quidditch match of the season was coming up. The annual Gryffindor Slytherin game was here and the Slytherins were taking any chance they could get to hex the team. James was acting like a nutter, asking all members of the house to look after his team, especially his tiny second year Seeker, Meghan Dearborn.

Meghan had already been sent to the Hospital Wing with a swollen wrist and James wasn't about to take any more chances. He was constantly seen walking the girl he considered another little sister to and from classes, even if he would be late to his own classes.

Scorpius and Fred Weasley could be seen escorting third year Keeper Casey Andrecotti to his classes while seventh year Johnny Maple, the third and final of the Chasers (besides James and Andrea) was trusted to make it to class on his own way. And James had trusted Tom and Danny to make sure that Andrea was all right.

He was taking no chances, and therefore asked everyone in Gryffindor to help him. They, of course, were completely up to the challenge and Lauren felt awful for poor Meghan Dearborn, who seemed to be getting the worst of it and couldn't even walk to the bathroom without a escort of anywhere from six to ten men in the corridor and two of them clearing the bathroom of harmful presences first.

And finally game day was here. Lauren and Rose, decked out in Gryffindor gear, arrived with Andrea to breakfast on game day to see the Gryffindor team crowded around the table. The three girls joined James, Scorpius, Johnny, Casey, Fred, and Meghan. Meghan looked ready to be sick and Johnny was gently running his hand up and down her back. Lauren knew this was her first game and was anxious to see just how she played. James had been raving about her for a while now.

James glared at Andrea as she sat down next to Johnny. Lauren settled herself next to James and Rose sat down next to Lauren. James opened his mouth to speak.

Andrea beat him too it. "Yes, James, I know. Load up on carbs."

James glared again. "No…well yes, but not what I was going to say. You were supposed to be here at 8:30!" He cried.

Andrea stared at him incredulously. "It's 8:32, James! Calm down."

"Are you nervous, James?" Lauren teased lightly. He looked over her and tried to glare. She smiled at him innocently, eyes wide and sparkling. The corners of his mouth turned up. She picked a breakfast potato off of his plate and popped it into her mouth. He sighed but smiled a genuine smile back at her. The entire Quidditch team seemed to relax just at that.

By 9:15, all members of the Quidditch team had left the Hall and went down into the locker room. At 9:45, Lauren, Rose, Alicia, Natasha, Tom, and Danny got up from the table to go down to the Quidditch pitch. As she got up, Lauren's hand bumped against something and a small clanging was heard. It was Andrea's lucky necklace and Lauren and Alicia decided to detour down to the locker room to give it to her while Rose, Natasha, Tom, and Danny offered to go save some seats.

After a brief sweep of the Girls locker room (and realizing that Andrea wasn't there), they made their way over to the Boys locker room. They knocked and let themselves in when there was no answer.

The Quidditch team was standing, huddled in a circle, arms around each other's shoulders. Their heads were bowed and their broomsticks were forming a triangle in the center. James was speaking.

"We stand upon this pitch today  
Playing Quidditch our own way  
And if we do our very best  
We pray that God will do the rest."

"AMEN!" The team shouted. The broke from their huddle.

"Uhhh hi." Alicia said awkwardly. "Andi, we have your necklace." Andrea frowned and reached her hand up to her neck, then gasped.

"Thank you thank you thank you thank you both so much." She said. The team grabbed their brooms and followed Lauren and Alicia out. James walked up with Lauren and Andrea stayed back with Alicia.

"So," Lauren said to him. "You guys pray to the Quidditch Gods before you play." She laughed.

"It's the Quidditch Deities." James said, completely serious. "We pray to the Quidditch Deities. I'm Catholic. You know, the whole One God thing?"

She laughed. "Ok, James, whatever you say." She paused. "And the difference between a Deity and a God is…?"

"A Deity, while close to God, is a God-like figure." He told her.

"Uhh Captain?" Keeper Casey Andrecotti interrupted. "It's time to fly out."

"Right." James said. He mounted his broom and Alicia made her way over to stand with Lauren. "Pray to the Deities for us Laur." With a smirk and a wave, James was off, leading his team into the Pitch.

* * *

"James, let me down!" Meghan laughed as she reached down from her current position (sitting on James' shoulders) to smack his chest.

The game had ended with a huge win to Gryffindor (360- 80) and Meghan had made a fantastic catch to end the game.

Everyone was now in the Gryffindor Common Room. Music was playing already and right after the game, Danny and Tom had escaped to grab some food. Lauren was sure that it wouldn't be long before someone brought out some alcohol.

Currently, the Gryffindor Quidditch team was sitting in the middle of the room, along with Alicia, Rose, and Lauren.

"All right, fine." James said. He reached his hands up and lifted Meghan's tiny body off of his shoulders to set her on the ground.

"Thank you." She said. "I'm going to meet up with my friends. See you guys later." She waved.

"Stay away from boys!" James cried out to her.

Andrea rolled her eyes as Tom pulled Alicia away to dance. "Come on Captain, let's go have a dance." She pulled his arm and Lauren and Rose laughed at the look on James' face.

All in all, the party was successful and went on late into the night. Everyone climbed into bed at a late hour and all was quiet until late morning.

Except for one girl, who sat in her bed pondering, reminiscing about the unknown feeling she had in the pit of her stomach.

But even she became dormant after a while.

* * *

**A/N: So, what do we think? Things are going to pick back up again in the next chapter.**


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